A REPORT by the RAC Foundation has stated that thousands of the country's bridges are substandard.

The increased weight and number of lorries is putting great pressure on road bridges with the report stating that 3,177 of Britain's bridges are 'substandard' Keith Gudgin reports.

Could collapse

The report states these structures could collapse as they were not constructed to carry a 44 tonne lorry and if urgent repairs are not carried out, many could collapse, but councils just do not have the money to carry out the needed upgrades and repairs.

Canal bridges, carrying major roads needs attention as well as those that have a limited weight, that is ignored as drivers are directed by sat-navs over canal bridges, all too often suffering damage to parapets in addition to damaging the actual bridge, as can be seen by the cracks in many of them.

Little money to spare

And like the councils, Canal & River Trust has little money to spare for the massive amount of work that would be needed to repair them all.

It was in August that Highways England sent inspectors to check bridges across the county with its report resulting in safety concerns for the country's bridges.